Governing Words
Here, it is an appropriate point to introduce the concept of Governing ( عَامِلٌ) words.
An عَامِلٌ governs/causes إِعْرَابٌ changes in another word.
The غَيْرُ عَامِلِ (Non-Governing) does not govern/cause إِعْرَابٌ change in another word.
There are two types of عَامِلٌ:
- لَفْظِيٌّ Explicit (spoken / word-based)
- مَعْنَوِيٌّ Implicit (Abstract / meaning-based)
لَفْظِيٌّ
It is that عَامِلٌ which appears as an actual word in the phrase/sentence and governs/cause إِعْرَابٌ change in another word.
Example: إِنَّ in إِنَّ اللهَ غَفُورٌ causes نَصْب in the word اللهَ.
There are 3 categories of words that are عَامِلٌ لَفْظِيٌّ:
- الْحُرُوْفُ
- الأَسْمَاءُ
- الْأَفْعَالُ
مَعْنَوِيٌّ
It is that عَامِلٌ which does not appear as a word, but whose effect is understood from the meaning or structure of the sentence. i.e. it is abstract. There are a couple of ways عَامِلٌ مَعْنَوِيٌّ is manifested:
1. الْإِبْتِدَاءُ, this is when being free from a عَامِلٌ لَفْظِيٌّ gives مُبْتَدَا (subject) a رَفْعٌ. e.g.
زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ
Zayd is standing
Here زَيْدٌ is the مُبْتَدَا (subject), which is مَرْفُوعٌ because of the manifestation of the الْإِبْتِدَاءُ reason.
قَائِمٌ is the خَبَرٌ (predicate) and it is also مَرْفُوعٌ because of الْإِبْتِدَاءُ.
2. In the case of فَعْلٌ مُضَارِعٌ, being free of حَرْفُ نَصْبٌ or حَرْفُ جَزْمٌ gives فَعْلٌ مُضَارِعٌ (present/future verb tense) a رَفْعٌ. e.g.
يَعْمَلُ زَيْدٌ
Zayd is working
Here يَعْمَلُ is مَرْفُوعٌ because it is free of any حَرْفُ نَصْبٌ or حَرْفُ جَزْمٌ.
Wondering what مُبْتَدَا , خَبَرٌ and فِعْلٌ مُضَارِعٌ are? Don’t worry! we will discuss these further in the course. The purpose of this lesson was to introduce the concept of the عَامِلٌ.